PUNE Pimpri-Chinchwad has topped the e-governance index among cities in Maharashtra based on a report prepared by Pune-based Think Tank - Policy Research Organisation (PRO). Pimpri-Chinchwad is followed by Pune and Mira-Bhayandar among 27 municipal corporation limits assessed by the Think Tank that studied websites, mobile applications, social media handles along with 120 other sub-criterions of these civic bodies between November 1 to December 31 last year.
According to the report, Pimpri-Chinchwad with 5.92 out of 10 points topped the chart followed by Pune with 5.50 points, Mira-Bhayandar (5.50), Mumbai (5) and Kalyan-Dombivli, (4.25).
The parameters based on which the cities were judged included- accessibility, services and transparency. “When we decided to prepare e-governance index for various cities in Maharashtra, we had template of National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA), which focuses on websites of Departments and Ministries of the Union Government and websites of State Governments. Since there was no provision for evaluating e-governance at the local level, we decided to take up the job,” said Neha Mahajan, director, PRO.
The report, as claimed by Mahajan, was based on only those criteria which elicit objective responses such as ‘Ease of portal finding’, ‘Navigability,’ which are matters of opinion and cannot be determined objectively. “Therefore, in line with this reasoning, it was also decided not to consider aspects of e-Governance that could lead to subjective experiences. Consequently, the scope of this Index relates to the existence of services, information, etc., and does not consider the actual delivery of a service, reliability of the information, etc,” stated the report.
This Index follows the binary evaluation methodology, also used in NeSDA, for assessing the municipal corporations across the indicators.
{{/usCountry}}This Index follows the binary evaluation methodology, also used in NeSDA, for assessing the municipal corporations across the indicators.
{{/usCountry}}“The explosive entry of technology into our everyday life has changed how we live, work, and how governments serve their people. Keeping this in mind, Policy Research Organisation (PRO) decided to study the state of ‘e- governance’ in all twenty-seven municipal corporations in Maharashtra. Considering municipal corporations are drivers of development at city/urban levels, it is imperative to assess the quality of e-governance provided and ensure that reform happens with the pace of development,” said Mahajan in the report.